Thrashing machine



3 Sheets-Sheet l lNvENToR Geo/#ye /L/ye ATTORNEYS May l5, 1928.

G. F. NYE

THRASHING MACHINE Filed Aug. 15, 1925 llllll Uf I mmm..

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THRASHING MAQHINE May 15, 1.928.

Filed Aug. 13, 1925 x I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 BY f;

, ATTORNEYS WITNESSES Patented May l5, 1928.

UNITED vSTATES GEORGE FBANCSN'YE, 0l' IOCOOK, NEBRASKA.

THBASHING MACHINE.

Application led August 13, 1925. Serial No. 50,078.

both in rst cost and up-keep and which embodies a construction and arrangement'of parts insuring its continuous and effective l operation Without the disadvantages of choking and jamming commonly incident to small machines forthe same purpose.

Another object is the provision of a machine embodying therein a continuous air passage and a suction feed pipe together with means for creating a suction through the air passage and throughv the feed pipe whereby in the construction and arrangement as proposed by my invention the material handled 'within the machine will not exceed at any time the amount capable of being drawn in by the suction whereby to avoid the danger of an overload at any time.

A still further and more specific object of my invention is the provision of a thrashing machine including a thrashin disc in conjunction with certain means a apted to bring about a constant uniform distribution 85 of the grain being thrashed, and further employing certain parts so arranged and related as to bring all moving ortions into substantially a unit and in this way avoid the complicated features of the usual thrasher. The thrasher proposed by my invention embodies a simple compact apparatus and necessitates but little power as compared to that usually required.

With the above general objects in mind,`

the further objects and resulting advantages of my improved thrashing machine may be better understood and more thoroughly appreciated from the following description and the accompanying drawings which illustrate my present invention and form a part of this specification.

ln these drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective View illustrating a possible application of the invention in practice.

`Figure 2 is a central Vertical longitudinal section through the machine.

Figure 3 is a rear elevation thereof.

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse section through the separating chamber taken on line 4.--4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a detailed section taken Ion line 5 5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a vertical transverse section taken on line 6 6 of Figure 2, and

Figure 7 is a similar view taken on line 7-7 of Figure 2.

Referring now to these figures my invention proposes a thrashing machine including two adjacent cylindrical casings 10 and 11 of which the forward casing 10 forms a separating chamber 12 therein, and the latter or rear casing 11 has therein a suction fan 13. The fan 13 is mounted upon a portion of an axial shaft 14v extending through both casings and mounted in bearings 15 on the front wall of the forward casing 10, and the rear wall to the rear casing 11, the forward bearing 15 appearing in Figure 2 as a portion of one wall of a feed pipe 16 `which opens into the slightly conical front wall 17 of the casing 10 at the center thereof and around the shaft.14.

The inner surface of the slightly conical front wall 17 near its peri hery is provided with an annular series o corrugations 18 and has within its corrugated portion a. series of rearwardly projecting pins and the like 19 for cooperation in practice with the similar oppositely projecting and staggered pins 19 of a thrashing disc20 which 1s also secured upon the saine shaft 14 within the separating chamber 12 adjacent to and opposing theconical front wall A17. The disc 2O is provided upon-one face with a series of corrugations 21 adjacent to its peripheral edge opposing the corrugations 18.

At its lower portion the casing 10 has a grain lpocket 22 as most plainly seen in Figure 4 and in communication with this pocket is an upwardly and outwardly inclined grain' discharge pipe 23 in which a bucket elevator 24 operates around inner and outer shafts 25 and 26, the buckets of the elevator taking the grain therein from the grain pocket 22 as they round the inner shaft 25. This shaft 25 is extended laterally and suitably connected by a belt to the ear end of the shaft 14 rearwardly beyo easing 11.

rear

Through the rear wall of the forward casing 10 and adjacent to the lower portion thereof an arcuate slot 27 opens into the lower enlarged portion of a pipe 28 forming a communicating air passage between the casings 10 and 11, its smaller end opening at 29 into the front wall of the rear casing 11 axially thereof and around the shaft 14 whereby the suction fan 13 in action draws a continuous current of air through the apparatus from the receiving mouth of the suction feed pipe 16.

The rear casing 11 outlets at the lower portion of one side of its wall into an upwardly and outwardly inclined discharge pipe 30 for the straw and chaff. By reference again to Figure 2 it is to be particularly noted that irrespective of whether or not the thrashing disc 20 is flat, a thrashing space is formed between the same and the substantially conical wall 17 with which it co-operates, which widens radially as it narrows axially whereby to maintain a constant velocity and even air pressure throughout the thrashing space with the result that the material to be thrashed will be uniformly distributed throughout the active surface of the thrashing disc and so spread out and assisted by centrifugal action at the periphery of the disc as to permit the air current to effectively separate the thrashed grain from the straw.

It will also be noted in particular that upon passage of the air beyond the periphery of the thrashing disc it merges into a relatively large chamber 12 which I terni the separation chamber and in which the velocity of the a'ir is, of course, greatly reduced, permitting the heavier grain to immediately fall to the bottom of such chamber whereby it readily finds its way into the grain pocket 22 for distribution into sacks or the like fixed to 'or placed beneath the outer end of the grain-discharge pipe 23. At the same time the straw and chaff is carried through the communicating ipe 28 and into the fan cylinder 11 from w ich it is thrown by the action of the fan with outgoing currents through the straw and chaff discharge chute 30.

The machine as thus described may as a whole be mounted upon a bed plate 31 which may be in turn disposed upon a truck or the like 32 as in Figure 1 for ready transportation from place to place by means of a tractor, and for operating purposes the thrashing machine of my invention may take the small power required thereby from the tractor for instance through a belt 33 which engages a pulley 34 secured upon the forward end of the shaft 14. This it is to be understood is simply an illustrative manner of use, and the machine may if so desired be mounted in the first instance upon a wheeled frame, either with, or without its own power locomotion, which if used will naturally be employed to drive the shaft of the thrasher.

It ,is obvious that in operation the suction developed by the fan serves to feed unthrashed grain uniformly to the action of the parts and only in such amount as these parts are prepared to take care of. As the unthrashed grain is thus fed into thc thrashing cavity or space between wall 17 and disc 20 it is moved directly in the space by the suction and thus distributed evenly for the cooperating action of the thrashing pins 18 and 19. As the thrashed material approaches the outer narrow circular opening between the outer edge of the thrashing disc and the adjacent wall of the casing it is spread out over a relatively large area by centrifugal fol'ce action and by opposing the direction of the air current induced by the suction brings about complete separation'so that the straw and grain entering the relatively large separating chamber 12 in a separated condition permits the heavier grain to readily fall into the grain pocket while the lighter straw and chaff flow with the air current through the communicating pipe 28 and fan casing to be finally discharged.

The machine in so far as the actual thrashing of the grain is concerned obviously cmploys movable parts which rotate as a unit, thus avoiding the many independent moving parts required in the usual thrashing machine, so that the necessary power is thus greatly reduced.

It is likewise obvious that a thrashing machine constructed in accordance with my invention will be low in first cost as well as 11p-keep, and will not only be effective and efficient in operation, but will be strong and durable in use.

What I claim is 1. A thrashing apparatus including a pair of adjacent cylindrical casings, a shaft rotatable axially through said casings, an air pipe in communication between the lower portion of one of said casings and the central ortion of the other casing, a fan secured3 on the shaft within the last mentioned casing for exhaustin air from the first casing through said air pipe, said fan casing having a discharge opening at its side, a thrashing disk secured on the shaft within the first casing in spaced a art opposing relation to one wall of the casing, and forming between the same and the said wall of the casing a conical thrashing cavity throu h which material to be thrashed is distriuted by the suction of the air exhaust fan, a feed pipe for the material to be thrashed opening centrally through the said wall of the casing into the thrashing cavity, said disk and the opposing wall of the casing havin co-acting means -forming beaters and aving opposed annular corrugated llU IZU

portions at the periphery of the disk, forming between them a narrow slot like discharge from the thrashing cavity opening into the first mentioned casing, and said rst mentioned casing having a grain pocket in its base' for the reception of the thrashed grain.

2. A thrashing machine comprising a rotatable thrashing element contained within a continuously enclosed air blast passage, means of delivering a restricted air blast at a central opening of this air passage, causing a radial air suction to act within a conical thrashing element, discharging from the periphery of said element into a separation chamber which is an enlargement of the continuously enclosed air passage, means of creating an air exhaust attached to the vouter end of a conduit opening in the bottom of the saidseparation chamber which conduit forms a restriction at the rear end of the continuous air passage.

3. A thrashing machine comprising a separation chamber, a hopper containing means to close the air suction at the bottom of said chamber, in communication there-4 with, a thrashing disk at one end of said chamber, means of receiving grain through an opening in the center opposite this disk and means of creating an air suction through the central opening through the space enclosed by the disk through the circular opening at the periphery through the thrashing chamber and through a conduit in the bottom of the thrashing chamber, a suction fan in communication with said conuit.

4;. A continuously enclosed air passage thrashing machine comprising an enlarged thrashing chamber, a restricted conduit .connecting an enlarged exhaust chamber a transverse rotatable shaft supporting a radial thrashing element within said thrashing chamber and an exhaust fan within said ex aust chamber, an inlet opening into the thrashing chamber, a disharge opening out of the exhaust chamber in combination forming an air blast carrier conduit, wherein the action of said exhaust fan' draws the unthrashed grain into said inlet opening and ejects the thrashed straw and chaHl from said discharge opening. I

5. A thrashing machine including a vertical rotatable disk and a vertical stationary member facing one another in opposing spaced apart relationship forming a vertical thrashing and separation cavity, having an intake conveyor Hue attached to the stationary member and a discharge around the peripheral edge of the disk, means for creating an air blast through the conveyor Hue inlet, through the thrashing and separation cavity and through the sald peripheral opening whereby said air blast separates the' straw from the grain kernals as they pass from the peripheral openi 6. A thrashing maciine including a Vertical enclosed housing, a vertical disk thrashing and separation element mounted within said housing, a Hue conveyor extending from said housing and forming a continuously enclosed air assage, means for creating an air suction t rough the conveyor Hue, through the space between the vertical wall of thehousing and the face of the said disk and through the space between the peripheral edge of the disk and the housing, whereby the thrashed grain is thinned as it is carried by the air suction radially over the face of the disk and over the peripheral edge of said disk enabling the airsuction to separate the straw from the grain kernals.

7. In a thrashing machine, a vertical rotatable disk thrashing element, a vertical housing `for said element, a Hue conveyor extending centrally-from said housing and forming, therewith an air conveying enclosure, means for creating an air suction,

whereby unthrashed grain will be drawn through the Hue into the space between the disk and the housing spreading it radially by centrifugal action as it is thrashed whereby said air suction separates the straw from the grain kernels as they yare being discharged from the peripheral edge of said vertical thrashing element.

8. A thrashing machine comprising a vertical air conveying housing and includa vertical rotatable disk thrashing member mounted therein said air conveying housing having an inlet opening opposite the center of said disk, a thrashing cavity formed by the vertical wall of said housing and said vertical disk and extending from the said inlet opening to the periphery of the disk, the peripheral opening constituting a connection between said ,thrashing cavity and a separation chamber defined on the opposite side of the disk and the air conveying housing, means for creating an air suction to convey grain through the inlet, through the thrashing cavity, through the peripheral opening between the liisk and the housing and through the separation chamber.

9. A thrashing and separation machine comprising an enclosing l'iousing and including an intake Hue opening through one wall of said housing, a vertical rotatable disk mounted in said housing and dividing the housing enclosure into thrashing and separation compartments, said compartments connected by an opening around the peripheral edge of the disk, a discharge opening from the separation compartment, and means for creating a suction air blast through the intake Hue, through the thrashing compartment, through the peripheral opening,

through the separation compartment and discharge opening whereby when unthrashed grain is sucked into the inlet Hue the straw is ejected from the separation compartment through the discharge opening.

10. A thrashing machine comprising thrashing and blowing compartments, a rotatablev vertical disk mounted in Said thrashing compartment, a common drive shaft passing through said compartments, an external inclined conduit leading from the bottom of the thrashing compartment to the blowing compartment, and discharge means extending from the blowing compart ment.

1l. A thrasher comprising thrashing and blowing compartments, a vertical rotatable disk mounted in said thrashing compartment, said disk dividing the compartment into a thrashing chamber and a separation chamber, a peripheral passage connecting the said chambers, a thrashed ain receiving pocket at the bottom of sald thrashing compartment, a common drive shaft passing Athrough said compartments, an external inclined conduit leading from the bottom of the thrashing compartment to the blowing compartment, and a chaff and straw discharge means leading from the blowing compartment.

12. A thrashing machine including thrashing and blowing compartments, a rotatable vertical disk mounted in said thrashing compartment, a common drive shaft passing tirough said compartments, an external inclined conduit leading` from the bottom of the thrashing compartment to the blowing compartment, discharge means leading from the blowing compartment,

the centrifugal force action of the disc opposin the direction of the air blast at its perip iery whereby to produce separation of the grain under treatment.

13. A thrashing machine comprising a pair of opposed thrashing elements arranged in axial alinement, one of said elements being rotatable and capable of developing marked centrifugal force action, an expansion chamber at the rear of said elements, an inlet flue leading to and through the center of one said elements, there being a restricted annular discharge opening at the peripheries of the elements, means for creatin an air blast through the inlet flue and uniformly through the space between the elements and across the peripheral dischar e opening, the centrifugal force action of t 1e rotatable element opposin the direction of the air blast at the perip ery, whereby to cause separation of the grain.

14. A thrashing machine comprising a pair of opposed thrashing elements arranged in axial alinement one of said elements being rotatable, an expansion chamber at the rear of said elements, an inlet fiue leading to and through the center of one of the said elements, there being a restricted discharge atv and between the peripheries of the respective elements, means for creatingv suction through the inlet flue and uniformly through the space between the said elements, and out the peripheral opening, the centrifugal force action of the rotatable opposing the direction of the suction at the periphery, whereby to cause separation 'of the grain.

GEORGE FRANCIS NYE. 

